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Upon listening to Sophia Knapp’s ‘Into The Waves’ you are transported, much like Alice In Wonderland, to a new sonic realm - dazzling and uniquely pop with its own set of rules. Some elements of the landscape are warmly familiar: Sophia’s voice appears first and foremost sensual, emotive, relaxed, and loaded with personality. Baroquely fingerpicked guitar, smooth piano, crystalline synths, and a down and dirty rhythm section complete the picture, bringing to mind melodic psych pop of the 60s, Tropicalia ballads, chilly New York dance records of the 80s and the seduction of Stevie Nicks or Françoise Hardy.

‘Into The Waves’ is Sophia’s first record outside of Cliffie Swan / Lights, the Brooklyn based rock band that she has performed in over the past five years alongside Linnea Vedder. A blend of acoustic and synthetic instruments frame Sophia’s cinematic song structures this time around, in contrast to the electric / analogue paradigm of Cliffie Swan.

The mystical elements of Cliffie Swan continue to flow through this record, as do Sophia’s signature harmonies and layered vocal arrangements. Gentle ballads here are underlined with hip shaking grooves and sparkle sounds, and the lyrical content is more detailed and intimate. Tales of love, magic, and transformation rub shoulders with themes of alienation and loss. The mysterious words, studded with metaphors, demand repeated listens to decode.

Sophia brought in several heavy hitters to collaborate with and to help create the poised sound of ‘Into The Waves’. Film composer and pianist Jay Israelson and Eric Gorman (the engineer / mixer for Cliffie Swan’s ‘Memories Come True’, with a fabulous background in pop vocal production), co-produced and co-arranged the album. ‘Bassy’ Bob Brockman, whose credits include playing, engineering, mixing and producing TLC, Fugees, Mary J Blige, Cee-Lo and a host of other R&B stars, contributed bass guitar, and Robert ‘Chicken’ Burke (The Duke And The King) played drums on several tracks. Bill Callahan’s rich baritone vocals are also featured on two slinky duets a la Nancy & Lee, or Serge & Jane.